Courtesy RT

As the world remembers Nelson Mandela’s legacy as South Africa’s first black president and anti-apartheid icon, he was also deeply skeptical of American power, the Iraq invasion, and was a key supporter of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Here are seven quotes from the leader that are less likely to be published as his life is honored and his death commemorated in the mainstream media.

Prior to the US invasion of Iraq, Mandela slammed the actions of the US at a speech made at the International Women’s Forum in Johannesburg, declaring that former President George W. Bush’s primary motive was ‘oil’, while adding that Bush was undermining the UN.

“If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don’t care for human beings,” Mandela said.

Mandela did not hold back from making hard-hitting statements against the US, and repeatedly spoke out against the prospect of the country invading Iraq. As the US prepared its mass-action in 2002, Mandela told Newsweek:

“If you look at those matters, you will come to the conclusion that the attitude of the United States of America is a threat to world peace.”

Mandela was a long-time supporter of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and made a speech to reporters in 1999, in which he agreed to be a political mediator between Israel and its neighbors.

“Israel should withdraw from all the areas which it won from the Arabs in 1967, and in particular Israel should withdraw completely from the Golan Heights, from south Lebanon and from the West Bank,” Mandela stated, according to the Jewish Telegraph Agency’s Suzanne Belling.

Mandela met with Fidel Castro in 1991, giving a speech alongside him entitled “How Far We Slaves Have Come.” The country was commemorating the 38th anniversary of the storming of the Moncada, and Mandela hailed Cuba’s ‘special place’ in the heart of the people of Africa, its revolution, and how far the country had come.

“From its earliest days, the Cuban Revolution has also been a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people. We admire the sacrifices of the Cuban people in maintaining their independence and sovereignty in the face of the vicious imperialist-orchestrated campaign to destroy the impressive gain made in the Cuban Revolution….Long live the Cuban Revolution. Long live comrade Fidel Castro.”

Mandela urged for the end to harsh UN sanctions imposed upon Libya in 1997, and pledged his support for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was a longtime supporter of his.

“It is our duty to give support to the brother leader…especially in regards to the sanctions which are not hitting just him, they are hitting the ordinary masses of the people … our African brothers and sisters,” Mandela said.

On the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, December 4. 1997, Mandela assembled a group “as South Africans, our Palestinian guests and as humanists to express our solidarity with the people of Palestine.” At the speech, he called for the metaphorical flames of solidarity, justice, and freedom to be kept burning.

“The UN took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system. But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”

Remember that in 1985 David William Donald Cameron was a top member of the Federation of Conservative Students, which produced the ,b>”Hang Mandela” posters. In 1989, Cameron worked in the Tory Policy Unit at Central Office and went on an anti-sanctions fact-finding mission to South Africa with a pro-apartheid lobby firm sponsored by PW Botha.

“The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a coalition partner of the ruling government, has called for the immediate arrest of Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister for allegedly assisting in the distribution of narcotics in the country.

At least 131kg of heroin was seized on 30 August hidden in cans packed into a container sent from the Pakistani port of Karachi.

It had been unloaded at Colombo’s port two months earlier and was addressed to a local recipient, but had been held pending production of documents and cash needed for its import.

A letter emerged from the prime minister’s office, dated 23 August and signed by a co-ordinating secretary seeking to waive import charges on the container.

The letter reportedly said it was being imported by a local company which was just launching its business and could not afford heavy duties.

When the issue was raised in Parliament, Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne said he wasn’t aware of it and that the letters are written by his staff.

The Prime Minister told Parliament that he has no time to read the 150 or so letters that pass through his office on a daily basis and that he has not approved such a thing, the Leader of the JHU Ven. Dr. Omalpe Sobitha Thero said.

He stated that the if the Prime Minister, who is also the Minister of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs, is unable to find a trustworthy and educated official to read these letters then he should understand that he can no longer do his duty.

“If he does not possess the physical and mental ability, the biggest service he should do is to resign from the Premiership,” he said, addressing a ceremony commemorating the 10th death anniversary of Ven. Gangodawila Soma Thero.

If the secretary has engaged in such an illegal act in violation of the Prime Minister’s orders, why is he not being punished or sacked, Sobitha Thero questioned.

The leader of the Sinhala nationalist party further said that in comparison to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Public Relations and Public Affairs, Mervyn Silva, somewhat has a policy.

When certain accusations are being made against his secretaries, Mervyn Silva either says “he is not my secretary” or removes that person. “It seems the Prime Minister doesn’t even have such manners,” he said.

“How does this fraudster continue to remain as a secretary to the Prime Minister?”

He stated that assisting in importing heroin will be the “main weapon” for destroying the Buddha Sasana and there is no doubt about it as it goes against the virtue of Buddhism.

“Therefore with complete responsibility we advise the country’s President to immediately arrest the prime Minister, who is assisting these illegal acts,” Dr. Omalpe Sobitha Thero.”

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